The Nationals’ candidate for Gilmore Katrina Hodgkinson has called for a Commonwealth Dairy Advocate to be put in place in a re-elected Federal Coalition Government. Ms Hodgkinson met with the Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud on Wednesday last week to lobby for the idea. In her media release Ms Hodgkinson said “The advocate would make sure dairy farmers in Gilmore get their fair share.” “A mandatory code is on the way and this would make sure it works properly. The advocate would also make sure farmers know their rights and would mediate between farmers and processors. “This will make sure there is a permanent voice for our dairy farmers. Minister Littleproud was very open to the idea and has promised me, if re-elected he’ll take a serious look at setting this up.
Above: Katrina Hodgkinson with David Littleproud meet with Raison Farmers “This is about fairness for farmers, processors, retailers and consumers. Dairy farmers have been put under incredible strain which has been made worse by the drought. “The sector has shown resilience but we need to make the industry sustainable in both good times and tough times. There has been a lot of good work done to address this and dairy farmers need that work to deliver results. Ms Hodgkinson called on Labor to get behind this proposal to make sure the industry has a level playing field adding “I also support the Minister’s call to extend the ten cent a litre price increase across the dairy range. Australians understand farmers deserve fair prices and they’re not getting them from the supermarkets. “This will make sure Australians have high-quality and reasonably-price dairy products into the future.”
